Pokémon Lapis
by HeleneAlexandra
Summary: SEQUEL TO POKEMON CRIMSON: Read that first. Gina and the gang throw caution to the wind and reach out to anyone they can now that the stakes are higher and their foes are revealed. Desperate times call for desperate measures in the fourth of six arcs. Content rating due to profane language and mild violence.
1. State of the League :Gina:

Pokémon Lapis

Chapter 1: State of the League

(Gina Ikeda)

"I swear I saw him."

"You can't be sure though. I mean… it was right before we left."

Kaylee sighed, frustrated. "I know what I saw."

Gina was tired of this. She was tired of everything.

The first 48 hours after Orion had left them in a heap on Edith's front lawn had been the absolute tensest of Gina's entire life. This was saying something, as she had fled Pallet's labs in a flurry of file-deletion, fled Silph while being pursued by people who punched teens in the face, and had been almost eaten, crushed and drowned in Victory Road. Their bags had been packed, their research saved back onto discs and wiped from Edith's machine, their flying Pokémon deployed round the clock. Gav's sudden shift towards utter defeat hadn't even been something they could discuss at first—safety had been too much of a concern.

But as the hours crept by and it became clear that no one was coming for them, talk had naturally happened.

How Edith had avoided a complete nervous breakdown in light of all the debate about relocating her Pokémon Gina would never know. Her focus had been on Jason exclusively at first, but once the discussion turned to packing up her emotionally damaged and fragile animals she had finally engaged with the group. Those that could be put into Pokéballs were, and those that could not were to be teleported by the Alakazams while the others made an aerial escape—an aerial escape that had never occurred.

Once the 48 hour mark passed the real negotiations began. _If we don't have to uproot the Pokémon and Edith's whole life, we shouldn't. But we could be wrong—we could be compromised—can we just ignore that? Live in fear? We could split up for a while… Isn't that what they want us to do? Go to college, get jobs, leave them alone forever? We're not leaving Edith. That much is sure. Yeah, screw that. So, what then? So—we wait._

Gav was the one who spearheaded putting all the discs and files into storage, even beginning to clean out his PDA. Victoria hovered over him while he did this, questioning, pleading, arguing, debating, or simply watching as he neatly categorized, stored, and then deleted all his backups off his device. Gina wanted to be positive—it was a good sign that he wasn't killing off all the backup data, but his PDA's storage had never been under 88% use and now it was at 14%.

In the meantime they lived out of boxes. Their haphazardly-stashed paper stacks had been a point of brief contention—keep them in the boxes for a quick getaway, or return them to where they'd had some semblance of order on shelves and in file cabinets? In the end Beth and Victoria had gone through the boxes, yanking ones they wanted to be immediately accessible and putting them back where they belonged. Victoria had yelled at Gav when she saw that, one morning, he had repacked those files into their box, but he just let her do it. He didn't complain when she unpacked them and put them back on the shelf, either, and he didn't make any more moves to adjust her organizational patterns.

It wasn't doing any good, though. Gav was determined in a way that was frighteningly free of outward depression or anger. He was simply resigned. Their project was too dangerous. They would not be so lucky as to get away from trouble time and time again. It was no longer responsible to risk their lives over and over for something that was so insurmountable. It was over.

Everyone was still there, miraculously. In that first week after they'd returned Gina had expected Amaris and Jason to leave, or even Kaylee or the Nakawas. Once or twice Victoria had even looked mad enough to go. Yet here they were, still in the familiar but tension-laden cottage, passing one another with mute nods here and there. Though they had stopped, for the most part, trying to convince Gav to snap out of it, Gina heard the murmurs—just about everyone was ready to pick this up without him.

Yet, Gina thought as she watched Kaylee gesturing emphatically to Victoria, maybe it wasn't so surprising or miraculous that they were all still here. Gav had been retreating for a month now, listening to what they had to say but unwilling to budge, but they had all been living together, working together, and fighting this fight together for years.

At first Gina had thought Kaylee would be devastated by her brother's abrupt about-face so close on the tails of not getting any meaningful information from Orion and not getting him to return to them. Instead the younger Harrison had found something new that gave her hope, and she clung to it even if it made no sense—Tim Broome. She said she'd seen him, hiding in his Gengar's field of shadow as he sometimes did, and she'd become convinced that he had allowed himself to be seen for just a second as a message—a promise that he was still their ally.

Furthermore, she'd developed a theory that beyond this, all three Champs they had met were trying to get encrypted messages to them. _They want to meet—they're on our side, _were the eight words Gina heard from Kaylee more than any others these days.

For a while Gina thought she was trailing into worrisome territory, a kind of delusional denial brought about by their catastrophic past month, but then she realized Kaylee was absolutely right about one thing—the Champions were trying to reach out to them. Casey Sounted had been interviewed in Pewter, mobbed by reporters due to the unusual sighting of a Champ strolling around through the streets in a city he didn't live. Casey's smile had been in place and he'd joked around and bantered with the reporters like usual, but when he dropped his parting words to them the group had been forced to sit up straight and listen.

"Well, the business that brings me here is personal," Casey had said, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing briefly to the side before he recovered and gave the cameraman another smile. "I'm looking for some friends, actually. Couple of them are from Pewter and I figured I'd check in on them, see if they're okay."

"If they're okay?" the reporter had asked, alerted at once to the strange wording. "Do you worry they aren't?"

Casey had paused, but then waved the question off with a chuckle. "I'm sure it's fine, but Nick, Tim and I would still like to see for ourselves what they're up to and that everything's fine." He had refused to answer questions after that and had waved jovially to the assorted group of reporters before hopping on his Pidgeot and taking off.

Nick Mentaro had been more subtle, but it had been the general consensus of the group at large that he was referring to them when he'd gone on the record at a VR refurbishment meeting and said, "The safety of trainers who wish to challenge the League is priority. And I don't just mean those who emerge from VR. I mean those who challenge the Four after that as well. It's absolutely paramount. You shouldn't see trainers running out of our building, panicking or scared or hurt."

Broome had been silent so far, but there was a scheduled Champion interview that would be televised later that day for the State of the League address, and it was a silent agreement amongst them that they would be tuning in to watch. In the hours that preceded it Kaylee had taken to trying even harder to drive her point home about the Champs. Victoria, who had been showing a lot of restraint and patience today, seemed to be wearing thin after a solid hour of debates.

"Even if those messages are urging us to gather—and to be honest, yes, it looks like they are—" she said, anticipating what Kaylee was going to say next, "It's much, much more likely at this point that it's a trap."

Sometime when Gina hadn't been paying attention Kaylee had learned how to take a deep breath, let it out on a long, slow sigh, and simply say, "I don't agree," before excusing herself from the room and heading down the hall. It was eerie—she'd always had the hottest head of their group, but she was changing, undeniably, and Gina could see the pang of regret on Victoria's face as she watched her go.

Once they had established that they were, very tentatively, safe, Amaris had taken to pouring himself back into alpha gene and Factor A research. Gina wasn't completely sure why. He'd been holing himself up in his room more and more often, though when she came by to visit his serious expression would falter just a little and he would almost never turn away her company. It was a nice change even if the rest of his behavior was bordering on erratic.

There was one odd thing that she hadn't been able to figure out, though—one of the first questions he'd asked her after the frantic panic died down was what she had seen when Wyland's ghosts knocked her out. This had been news to Gina, as she hadn't had Hypnosis used against her or her Pokémon at all during her fight with him. Amaris had clammed up at once and she'd known better than to press him about what had happened, but it was a frightening implication—if Wyland's ghosts had used Dream Eater on Amaris, did that mean Wyland could be privy to some of his knowledge or memories?

Gina had gone to Zahlia in the end with her questions. Though she didn't have much information to give her, Zahlia had agreed that she was likely on the right track in her thinking. It was possible that Wyland had gotten a positive ID off them from whatever he saw in Amaris' head, even, and that could have been what drew Lance out to confront them if all the Four were working together. Zahlia had let Haunter out after that and, as far as Gina could see, had never returned him to his Pokéball once since then. They were locked in nonstop practice now, Zahlia trying to fine-tune his Dream Eater ability and get his mild ADD under control. Gina wasn't sure if she had a real goal in mind or if it was just something to keep her busy.

Though she'd wanted to, and had come close to doing so many times over the past few weeks, Gina hadn't been able to bring herself to ask Zahlia about Orion and Zeke and how she was handling everything. Zahlia kept things close to the vest on her best days, but she knew that the Ghost-trainer had suffered almost more than the rest of them in the aftermath of their last day at the Plateau. At the end Zeke and Orion had literally fist-fought with her as the catalyst to their explosion. Zeke was terrifying—possessive, unhinged, and his affection for Zahlia bordered on twisted and brutal. While he genuinely seemed to hate her, and certainly all of the rest of them, it was obvious he was also coming from a lifetime of an almost addiction-like dependence on her. If there was one subject she avoided even more than Orion, it was her brother.

Jason, meanwhile, had done no such concealing of his rage and disappointment. It was only Edith's quiet, stark distress at the idea of having to uproot her whole life in a matter of minutes that had snapped Jason out of his breakdown on her front lawn. Somehow he had managed to shelve his issues long enough to help them get sorted, though Gina had seen his dark, brooding thousand-yard stare as he packed, instructed Alakazam on how and where to teleport the more delicate Pokémon, and did periodic checks of the skies on Fearow. That look had never really left him since then.

It hadn't taken much for Jason's borderline-Rhyhorn to evolve into a Rhydon, and it was sheer dedication that had evolved Psyduck not very long after that. He'd started wearing his hair shorter, cutting it haphazardly one night after it wouldn't stop slopping into his eyes, wet with water and sweat. It had been an awful cut and Edith had coaxed him into letting her even it up. Gina hated the look on him, missing the messy, carefree spikes and even the ruffled, unkempt look he'd had to adopt once he stopped geling it.

One unforeseen side-effect of the project "ending" had been Edith's sudden period of calmness and softly understated relief. Of course she was still worrying herself sick over Jason, but she was visibly less stressed and her OCD, aggravated by stress, had calmed down a great deal in the past month. Gina figured it was probably an undeniable relief that they were done with this constant danger, as supportive as she'd been of them this whole time. Being left behind for two months while they traversed VR and the IP… Gina hadn't even been able to handle being left behind for half an hour at the prospect of waiting for Amaris to challenge Olivia first. She couldn't imagine what Edith had gone through and felt a twisting of guilt in her stomach every time she thought of it.

Kaylee had been way too distracted to pursue Gina's pseudo-promise that she'd talk to Jason and Edith once they returned from the Plateau. It was either that or she understood, the way Gina did, that it was something that could certainly not happen right now, and could very possibly never happen. On some level Gina had known and understood this from the day Orion had left them, his notebook and his three-sentence apology the only things left to comfort them. The idea of sitting them down and explaining that she was tied up in unrequited, uncomfortable feelings would have been laughable if it wasn't so mortifying. Gina had a physical reaction to it every time it flickered into her mind, a cringe and a need to get up and move around, as if she could outrun her own thoughts.

In the end it was the avalanche of what they didn't know versus what they did know that killed her. All they did know was that Orion had done them a solid based on his father's orders to get them out of there. No one had come after them at all so far, and it meant—well, it could mean anything. But Gina was not alone in feeling that it was very likely that they were being protected, shielded somehow from Nakawa and the rest of them, rather than being carefully lulled into a false sense of security. There was no reason for their enemies to wait so long to come after them if they knew where they were.

Gina's musings had taken her outside without her strictly being aware of where her feet were leading her. Even now there was always some "firepower" on guard outside, just in case, and today it was literal. Charizard turned his massive head to look her way and blew out a plume of steam when she walked up to him. Ever since his evolution he had been much more outwardly affectionate, but he was, gratefully, still a brat. Gina wasn't sure if she could handle a complete 180 degree personality swap from her oldest friend on top of everything else. As if to prove this point Charizard headbutted her in the shoulder and Gina stumbled from the display of fondness that had much more oomph than it had before. Then she hugged his face while he gently thrashed like he didn't want the affection when she knew he really did.

"Up for a ride?" she asked, and Charizard rolled his eyes at her like this was a huge inconvenience. He adored flying, though, and could not deny it as he lowered himself down so she could climb aboard.

Charizard flapped his massive wingspan twice as Gina crouched low over his back, slinging her arms around his neck. He had acted like this was choking him at first and she'd believed him, trying to find a new way to ride until she'd understood he was trolling her. She supposed it was sort of humorous to imagine that anything Gina did to him now was more than a minor blip on the radar. His skin was so much tougher and hotter to the touch now, and more than once he'd bested Blastoise in a spar.

They took to the skies, but kept low. This was deeply disappointing to Charizard, and to Gina as well, but she couldn't blame the others for telling her to fly low, especially with his tail flame. They wanted to draw as little attention as possible.

As her starter flew in low, wide circles, testing his boundaries and creeping ever skyward, Gina buried her face in his back, closing her eyes. The urge to look for Pallet always took her when she was flying, even though there was no way she would be able to spot her hometown from such a low vantage point. The homesickness had started in VR and now that she was closer to Pallet than she'd been in months it had risen to almost insurmountable heights.

Speaking of which—"That's enough, buddy. Little lower." Charizard let out a sigh of smoke and Gina sighed with him. "Yeah, I know. It sucks. I want the clouds, too."

When they landed Kaylee was peering out at them with clear anxiety on her face from the open window. "Come on!" she urged, and Gina hit the ground running, Charizard banking up and away so he wouldn't clip her with his wing. "It's gonna start!"

For one second Gina had thought this was actual news, but then she remembered—it was interview-watching time. _Of course, _she thought, shaking her head and snapping her long hair back into a quick ponytail. It was already hopelessly windblown from her short ride. As she pushed her way into the house she saw that the others were already gathered, each in their usual seats facing Edith's tired old set. Only Gav was absent, still diligently plugging away at his PDA at the kitchen table. Gina made a brief face at that, wondering if the Harrison siblings had argued about his lack of interest in watching the broadcast.

Gina took a seat next to Zahlia on the floor, trying to get comfortable without anything to lean on. A commercial for Pokéchow was ending and after the catchy jingle—why buy anything else?—the screen went black and filled back up with a dark blue backdrop.

"Good evening, ladies and gentleman," a rich, sonorous voice greeted them from the speakers. "You are watching the 2045 State of the League address. Today we will be talking with Timothy Broome, our current Champion from the Indigo Plateau."

The screen faded again and now they were looking at a conference room that held only Broome, looking a little tired, and a decidedly not-tired interviewer with an over-caffeinated smile that bordered on manic. Gina's stomach twisted unpleasantly at the sight of the Champ who had been so good to them at the Plateau and she fought the conflicted urge to both watch and look away.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," the interviewer said, parroting the voice-over almost exactly, only with his own upbeat tone. "I'm reporting live from the Indigo Plateau where we are here for our State of the League address with our current Champion, Timothy Broome! Broome, as you know, first won his League Challenge in 2039 and recently re-won that title from Mary-Jane Worthington just over six months ago. Thanks for having us, Tim!"

Broome gave him a small smile and a nod, but Gina could almost read the question in his weary eyes—like any of the Champs really had a choice in the matter? Something had been stealing sleep from the current Champ lately, and it could be any number of things. Gina recognized the tired, been-up-too-many-nights look, becoming well-versed in it on the faces of her friends. Kaylee, she saw, had both legs tucked up to her chest and was nibbling furiously on one of her thumbnails. Gina wondered if she had spontaneously evolved into a species of human that didn't need to blink.

"Such a pleasure to be here, such a pleasure," the interviewer said, ending on a sigh like he was on Cloud Nine. Gina fought off an eye-roll. "Well, where to begin? There certainly have been some very newsworthy items brought to my attention, some questions from our viewers and some interesting developments in the past week alone!" Broome merely nodded in agreement, apparently not feeling the need to fluff this with small talk and needless statements of the obvious. A little thrown off, the interviewer dove into his first question, which elicited a slight scoff from Amaris. "Well, as I'm sure most of our viewers at home know, your friend and fellow former Champion, Nicholas Mentaro, recently expressed his very strong views about the safety and conditions of not only Victory Road, but also the League Challenge itself. It's true that reports have been increasing as far as VR injuries go, but would you say that this is a problem that's really been getting worse in previous months?"

There were some half-hearted chuckles from their gathered group. Broome's passive expression changed at this, though, and he repositioned so he could lean one elbow on the conference table and face the interviewer better. "It is most definitely a problem," he said, clearly and with no room for argument. "The amount of injured trainers—and Pokémon—coming out of VR has increased steadily over the years. It's worrisome, to say the least." He frowned and looked to the tabletop as if remembering something. "I take a few trips in there every few weeks, to keep my senses honed and train my team, but even I have encountered some trouble with the wilds in there. They are much, much more aggressive, and that's only one layer of this."

The interviewer looked like he wanted to interview, but Broome looked up, his blue eyes taking on a colder expression as he held the man's gaze. "And you expect a still young and rather inexperienced trainer with less knowledge and fewer skills than the pros to take this on, just as easily? If so, you're dead wrong. We have to figure out what's going on down there—and something is going on down there—soon. I'm not going to have any further injuries or deaths in this route if I can help it."

Though this was a dream come true, a Champion actually giving real answers on relevant issues, Gina soon realized that this man had been hoping for an MJ. In fact, he'd probably been prepping to interview MJ herself before Broome had swept back in and reclaimed his title. It was a horrible mis-match of interviewer to interviewee. Instead of a peppy, popular, positive marketing wonder he had this serious, stern young man who was bringing up subjects that had been either doggedly avoided or flat-out not explored before now. Gina frowned. What had he been expecting? He'd asked what he thought. Perhaps other Champions in the past had tried to sugar-coat VR, offering encouraging words and keeping up the spirits of the would-be challengers. Broome, clearly, was going to do no such thing.

"Well… ah, although it's an off-season, have you and your fellow Champs seen many contenders make it through VR to challenge the Four and the League?" It was a sort of a random question, only just barely tied in with the Champ's answer, and Gina felt a momentary pang of pity for his poor improvisation skills. She didn't miss the way she and the others leaned closer to the set though, wondering what, if anything, he would say about their group.

Broome paused for just a fraction of a second before speaking, his eyes flicking back down to the glossy, reflective surface of the conference table. "We… recently had a group come during the off-season, yes. There were three among them who were looking to challenge the Four and the League. I mean… don't get me wrong," Broome said, looking back up now, his face a little more open than it had been a moment ago. "As long as you believe in your Pokémon, and you've trained them up and trust them, you can do anything. But I have to say that these three—they had the real, solid potential to get past the Four."

Gina couldn't watch this part, feeling her ears heat up at the compliments. She stared at Edith's very shiny floors, watching the muted reflection of the interview there instead. "But, it's my understanding that they didn't make it past the fourth challenge… and they up and disappeared." Gina had to snap her head back up at this now, anxiety roiling through her. Was he going to do something like mention them by their aliases, or say that they'd fled in a panic and had been involved in a big fistfight on the lawn? "So… I'm kinda hoping they're doing okay," Broome said, giving a slight shrug and averting his eyes again. "If it's just the residual sting from a loss, my advice is to brush it off, get back on their feet and try again. Mew knows I have had my fair share of defeats."

The last bit of what Broome had said didn't quite ring true, tacked on like it was for the benefit of the viewers at home. Gina knew he believed the words he said, but that he did not for a second buy that their group had vanished for any reason that had to do with anger over a loss. She glanced at Kaylee's profile, dyed blue in the light from the screen, and finally saw her blink slowly, once. Then she rubbed one eye ferociously, trying to rehydrate it, while she kept the other locked on Broome's face.

"Would these be the friends that Casey Sounted was looking for in Pewter?" the interviewer asked, and Broome simply nodded once, not giving him more information. Gina watched the interviewer's face for a moment, trying to read if he was going to pry more, but he seemed to feel there were better things to talk about. To her immense relief, he moved on. "Well… speaking of the fourth challenge! I have an unconfirmed source that says our very own Dragonmaster, Lance, was seen back at the IP in recent months. Can you say if this is true or not? If he is back, do you know why?"

Broome frowned slightly at this question, glancing quickly to the side and back the way people usually did if they were looking around for some sort of prank. Gina wondered with a sad pang if he had picked up this trait from being Casey's friend for so much of his life. "Well… yeah, he's back… he's the fourth combatant of the Elite Four. He was gone for a while solely because we haven't had very many challengers. It being an off-season, and all."

The interviewer looked both flummoxed and embarrassed and Broome's expression smoothed out a little. Evidently he was taking slight pity on him. "Ah, I see! It's just, there have been rumors of his retirement…" he prompted, and Broome nodded slightly.

"Well… although I'm happy to see him back, he should definitely think about his retirement. Mew knows he deserves it. But I'm assuming he wanted back on because he missed it. We didn't get very far with plans to replace him, otherwise I'm sure you and the viewers would know all about it by now." The interviewer nodded, still slightly red under the collar after his blunder. "Can't blame him, really. I know I recently started missing being in a position that can make a real difference in our region."

"That brings me to my next question," the interviewer said, looking a little shocked that for once the transition had been smooth. "I'm sure a lot of us at home are wondering what made you decide to pick now as the time to re-win your title from MJ. Is there any special reason behind that?"

Broome chuckled slightly. "Well… as I previously stated, I started missing it. I know that might come as a shock since I was never really one for the cameras, but there are other reasons to miss being the current Champion, other than the limelight. As I said, I missed having the opportunity to be able to make a real change and help better the lives and bonds between trainer and Pokémon… and just, humans and Pokémon in general." Gina caught movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced at Amaris, who had tilted his head to look at the screen with a critical eye. She thought she knew what he was thinking—it all sounded so good on paper, or in this case, on screen. Yet the shrouds of suspicion they wore were firmly in place. "Pokémon deserve to be helped out and protected, as much as us. Plus…" he grinned slightly and lowered his blue eyes, rubbing the back of his neck a little. "Gotta say, I missed the high-pressure battles too. Always loved those."

The interviewer beamed at the first actual smile he'd gotten from Broome, but before he could capitalize on that and move them in a happier direction it was over. Broome flicked his eyes back up and seemed to freeze the interviewer mid-interruption. "Besides that I had some other matters that I felt needed to be looked into. They will be discussed at a later date, so please respect that and don't ask. I understand it's your job, but… please." The "please" bordered between a polite request and an absolute statement, and the interviewer seemed to know this was a dead-end right away.

Still, he was a reporter. "Well, you seem very determined on this subject, although I'm bound by my job, as you say…" he chuckled and Broome sighed very softly, not smiling but not looking angry. "So you won't be able to shed any light on this, not even a little?" Broome just blinked once at him, slowly, not deigning to repeat himself so blatantly. "No?" the interviewer confirmed, chuckling nervously. "Ah well folks, it was worth a shot! I know one part of being a Champ, or part of the League in general, is working closely with fellow former Champs, the Four, and Gym Leaders on Pokémon policy, as you mentioned. Certainly we need folks like you on these committees!" Broome didn't smile at this, not falling for the flattery, and the interviewer quickly plowed on to arrive at his point. "However, how do you feel about the disappearance of Vincent Warren? It's a bit of an old news item now, but Nathan Fremont had some friction before being sworn in as the new Vermillion Leader... I understand if you don't want to get on anyone's bad side," he added with a weak chuckle, "but we're dying to know what you think of this development, as well as Whittaker-Cheng's very public disappointment in Warren? Do you think Fremont will do this important job better?"

Something had flickered across Broome's eyes at the mention of Fremont, and for the first time all interview Kaylee tore her eyes away from the screen to look back and gauge the reactions of the group. Gina met her eyes and bit her lip, wanting to offer her some sort of camaraderie but unable to decide how she felt. "As of right now," Broome began delicately, "I'm hoping he will. I won't… have _high _hopes for him, since, for all we know he could be another Warren, after the title alone. I agree with Whittaker-Cheng in this respect, _only _about my disappointment in Warren," he added, and Kaylee began to say something to the group but clamped down on it as the Champ went on. "I even felt the pain of waiting for him to finally appear for a battle… Nick, Casey and I waited in that line for hours." He cracked a very slight smile and once again the interviewer seemed to want to drag the show off into a happier, fluffier direction. Broome wouldn't have it. "But at the same time, I'll hold out hope that he's better. Although I've heard about some semi-troubling personal matters concerning him that I will _not _go into, since it's not my place," he said, needing to physically lift his hand to stem the burning tide of questions the reporter seemed about to spew. "That said, I plan on meeting with Mr. Fremont to find out just where we stand on the Vermillion Gym and its hours of operation."

Jason let out a long, slow sigh as the interviewer tried feebly and failed once more at getting more info on Broome's lead on Fremont. "Damn. He's going to go talk to dad willingly? Good luck to him."

"But, see—" Kaylee said, staring at the screen to make sure they weren't missing anything. So far it was just more invasive questions being utterly stonewalled by Broome. "This is what I mean. He doesn't know what's going on with Fremont. He's not with him."

"That doesn't mean he's not with Nakawa, or—" Amaris interjected, but cut himself off as the real interview finally resumed, the reporter's attempts completely thwarted.

"We all know that you, Mr. Mentaro and Mr. Sounted traveled together during the crux of the new reforms that have made VR more unnavigable. Yet you three made it through alright!" Broome frowned again, clearly wondering if this would be an attempt to brush off the severity of the VR issues, but the interviewer hurried to finish his thought. "Would you have any advice to trainers who might be feeling discouraged about attempting VR in light of all this recent news?"

"Now that," Broome said, offering a kinder smile, "is a question I like answering. Make good friends with other trainers and don't give yourself a bad name. If you have some good friends, travel _with them_." He put extra emphasis on the last two words and Gina squinted as if she was trying to see through the screen and into the contents of his mind. "Don't try to be the macho, tough type and do it all alone. Allies and companions provide not only extra eyes and ears to help keep you and each other safe... they also have your back, help you through your troubling times and are there for you." Gina swallowed around a lump of emotion, feeling that she was in that delicate state where the slightest thing could set her off, but thankfully Broome broke a little bit of the tension with what he said next. "They can be your comedic relief…" he pretended to cough over the name _Casey Sounted! _and the interviewer frowned at him as if genuinely worried for his health before he got it. "Or, they can be the serious and truthful friends that _always _give their opinion no matter what the issue…" again he name-dropped _Nick Mentaro! _through fake coughs. "But, bottom line, there are others out there looking for a friend. You'll find them in the most surprising places. These friends also include your Pokémon, of course."

Gina struggled to decipher the messages, feeling like she was playing a game with someone who didn't realize he was playing. So much of what he said could be taken two ways—either as a simple and straight-forward message to prospective trainers, or as a more targeted message at their group. She could sort of understand now why this had driven Kaylee to utter distraction. "Treat your Pokémon with the love, care and respect they deserve and they'll grow in leaps and bounds. I got here today—sorry, I misspoke—I'm _alive _today because of these Pokémon." She let out a soft sigh, transporting a message to Broome as if he could really hear it. _I really, really want you to be legit… please don't be a liar. _Then Broome's eyes flicked directly to the camera and the words he spoke next floored Gina. "'Don't let your partners fall.' That's a quote written on the tribute wall by Vincent Ostwak, it's a favorite of mine and the favorite of a friend's, as well." _Alright, now I know you're talking to us, _Gina thought at Broome, her eyes shifting over to Kaylee, then Amaris. He had revealed to them later that night, the last peaceful one they had spent on the lawn, that he had chosen this as another of his favorite quotes. Gina was almost certain that Broome was talking about him as well as Kaylee when he spoke of his friends.

Gina had become lost in thought and tuned in to realize that Broome seemed to be speaking about a topic he felt very passionately about now. "I'm not gonna leave my family in the arena to get killed just for the sake of some title. You go after my family and you'll see how we stick up for each other. I know you all have seen what I'm talking about." Whatever he was talking about, the interviewer knew it too, and Kaylee hastily scribbled something on a pad of paper Gina had not seen tucked away by her feet. "I'd gladly give up the title and all of this if it meant no Pokémon would be hurt or worse, killed in battles that get out of hand. I know I'm not the only one who would do so without a blink." Broome listed healing supplies to keep on hand, referencing a few sales and good deals throughout Kanto, and when the subject of merchandise and Silph came up, it seemed to remind the interviewer of something he had been about to ask him earlier.

"This whole business with Silph reminds me… Warren went on record not long before he went off the grid in support of the very controversial 'Pokémon Performance Enhancers' that Silph was supposedly marketing for a time. Of course we know that once that news story broke they immediately denied the allegations and said, I quote," he seamlessly lifted a paper, very prepared for this portion of the interview, "'PPEs were only ever in development, never seriously tested or marketed. Warren spoke erroneously on an issue that he had little knowledge of. We certainly wouldn't dream of releasing anything that would harm Pokémon, either wild or trained.'" Gina snorted at that excerpt. What a PR nightmare for Silph, having to backpedal like that with the Pokémon Liberation Front and other interest groups breathing down their necks. "Do you buy this or do you think there's more to that story?"

Broome gave something that was a strange mix of a smile and a grimace. "While… in some cases Warren would blab unintelligibly about certain issues, I never knew him to throw around a name like Silph. Especially, you know, about something so specific as to mention the drug, to imply that he was on board with them and a real supporter of it, I mean." He paused and let out a short laugh. "It doesn't strike me as something that he 'had little knowledge of.' So, yes. I am inclined to believe there's more to this story." He took a breath, let it out slow, and addressed the camera directly for his next part. "So therefore, now is as good a time as any to announce that I am starting my own formal investigation of the Silph company."

"_What?_" Kaylee asked the television, and Jason let out a loud whistle. Amaris muttered something but it was drowned out by Victoria saying "shhhh!"

The reporter had buried him in an avalanche of questions but Broome was not done yet. "There's one more thing I want the viewers at home and the citizens of Kanto to know. I'm also spearheading a formal search party for former Vermillion Gym Leader, Vincent Warren." The flabbergasted reporter's face was sort of priceless but their group babble had broken out, unable to be contained now. Kaylee ran forward and crouched down near the speakers, trying to hear the last of what Broome was saying, because—Gina's heart jolted with alarm—the current Champ was standing up from his interview, apparently done with it. Gina tried to worm her way closer while Victoria and Beth traded excited talk with one another.

"What'd he say, was that it?" Gina asked, crawling over an ottoman to get to the screen. The show had just switched to a commercial break quite abruptly and Kaylee shook her head, her wide brown eyes latching onto Gina's.

"He just said he'd be in touch and would give more information when it became available, but for now those were all the questions he would take, that he's been very busy and is still working to finalize some of the things he just talked about. And he just—" she stared at the screen, flabbergasted, and gestured to it like it could answer her. "Just left."

Gina finally overheard part of what Beth was saying, her voice excited and rising above the din. "No one, I repeat to you, _no one _would put their reputation on the line like that unless they felt like they could deliver! He's _investigating Silph? _Himself? Who _does _that? No one does that, no one has even dared to mention this on any kind of broadcast—you know, you _know _the only reason he got away with it is because he did it so fast, it wasn't scripted. And you know why he left like that? So suddenly? It's because he _knew _they'd kill the feed soon anyway after he goes on record and says all that stuff about Silph and Warren to the entire nation."

"That's a little much," Victoria said, shaking her head. "I mean, all he said was that it was likely Warren knew more about the PPEs than he let on. It's not like he said 'Silph is the root of all evil in this world and I shall vanquish it.' Just, hold on, don't get so _ahead _of yourself—"

"No, Victoria, seriously," Kaylee said, leaping up and leaving Gina to stare at the set. "This is what I've been saying. There's no way he'd risk something like this unless his thinking aligned with ours."

"You know, that's what we thought about Whittaker-Cheng," Victoria said, her voice exasperated and flat. "We thought, 'hey, look at this fine, upstanding guy who's speaking out against Warren and going on record with unpopular views.' We thought that and we approached him and what happened? They kidnapped Orion and tried to trap us in the Gym."

"Hold up," Gina called over their argument, for the show was back on, though the image was not of the conference room. It was back to the main studio where a group of flummoxed reporters were trading quips and speculation. The group hushed in time to catch the second half of the first exchange.

"Well, that was abrupt! Didn't think Broome would deliver so riveting an address, did you?"

"Certainly didn't! He's always been one of the more quiet Champs. Maybe he's taking a leaf out of Mentaro's and Sounted's books?" There was some chuckling but Gina saw how uneasy their faces were, and how plastic their smiles were as well.

"Well, one thing we know for sure—he was referencing the Challenger battle fiasco of 2041 there, wasn't he?" one asked the other, and she clapped and her eyes lit up.

"Yes, I thought so too! 'You go after my family and you'll see how we stick up for each other.' Gotta be, right?"

Kaylee had pounced on her pad and was scribbling some more to herself, and while she was distracted Gina orbited around the discussion that had roped in Amaris now as well.

"It could be a trap," Amaris allowed. "Anything could be a trap at this point, we all know this. But it's a risk to _not _take risks sometimes. Sounted, Mentaro and Broome were the closest we've ever come to having solid, reliable sources and allies in positions of power. I know we've all been thinking how it was very convenient that they were all there during our fiasco with Lance, but I've done some reading—" Kaylee looked up at Amaris with wide, hopeful eyes, but he ignored her, "And those three as well as MJ and a few others are almost _always _at the League when they aren't taking care of their own private side-businesses. So it could have been nefarious timing or it could have been an unfortunate coincidence."

Victoria sighed, rubbing her temples. "So you're saying we should call him up right now?"

"Well, not right now," Blake said blandly, watching as the show went back to commercial. "I imagine he's being crushed in a horde of reporters right now and probably can't come to the phone."

"It was a huge gamble," Gina said, not realizing she was going to be speaking until she was. "He just put himself in danger if he's not on their side. So, there's that."

"Again," Victoria said, now firmly behind both of her hands. "What we thought about Whittaker-Cheng."

There was a scrape of a chair from the kitchen and the group looked over at Gav, who was rising to his feet. For a protracted, tense second Gina thought he was actually going to come over and participate in their talk. Then he headed down the hallway and her spirits went with him as he retreated.

Gina tuned out the debate, but she was discovering who fell on each side of the divide. Blake and Amaris were not sold, still suspicious but wanting to explore all options, Victoria was playing to the side of caution, and Beth and Kaylee had been won over. Zahlia was keeping quiet and Jason was only piping in to bring up points and pose more questions, keeping his opinions about Broome to himself. It was likely, Gina thought, that he didn't even completely know where he stood on this issue. He'd been understandably preoccupied.

The second there was a lapse in the talk Gina cleared her throat. "An announcement," she said. "Off topic, not that important but I want it to be said while we're all gathered here." Nervous looks were cast her way and she sighed. "Nothing bad. Just—I really want to go back to Pallet. Not forever, obviously," she added, seeing Jason's look of distress. "Just… since we're sort of at a really extreme standstill, have been for the past month, and probably won't be picking up this project again in any sort of really intense, meaningful way for a while…" she could see Kaylee wanting to interject and held her hand up to halt her, feeling sort of like Broome fielding interview questions for a second. "I really can't stop thinking about mom, and Alana. I'd rather stop by and show I'm alive, make up some story so they don't think we're up to anything."

Victoria furrowed her brow, obviously disapproving but waiting until Gina was finished talking. "We're not giving up on this project," she asserted, and Kaylee gave a very small sigh. "We're stuck for now, on certain issues," she said, giving the younger Harrison a pointed look, "but we _will _be diving straight back into what we've been doing. If you want to go home and lie… saying that you're done when we aren't… that's fine." Gina felt a curl of hurt at her words before she realized Victoria didn't mean any offense by them. She was just trying to drive home a very important point. "Just realize that all you'll be doing is putting their minds at ease, not realistically promising them that you will never be in danger again."

"In light of this announcement that most of the population of Kanto just saw, I think it's a good idea," Amaris added. "The less remarkable and strange we are the less likely it is that people will try to draw lines between what Broome just announced and what we were doing in the labs. I'll come, too."

Gina was unable to hide her surprise at his offer to accompany her, but secretly she was beyond relieved. Having to face both her mother and the scores of confused, angry lab assistants on her own had been a task that made VR look inviting. "Okay," she said, giving Amaris a small smile. "Alright, good. We'll… we'll go soon, then."

"Okay," Victoria said, turning back to the television and seeing that the credits for the very short address were now running. "And I might as well go on the record here and say that, although this particular group of people has a _very nasty habit _of running off and doing things on their own, I will personally tan the hide of any of you who talk to Broome without the rest of us knowing." She cast a piercing, deadly look out over the rest of them that managed to be simultaneously frightening and touching. "Just saying."

* * *

_Author's Note: Welcome to chapter 1 of Lapis! As a warning, my chapter buffer is running critically low, so there might be actual waits longer than a week between updates if I can't find the time to crack out a bunch this weekend. I'll do my best and update my profile so you know what's up!_


	2. Shambles :Victoria:

Pokémon Lapis

Chapter 2: Shambles

(Victoria Larson)

_Oh come on, _Victoria thought to herself with vehement annoyance. _This is so cliché._

No matter how many times she told her eyebrow twitch to go away, though, it stubbornly remained. Stubborn was the name of the game for everything these days. Gina's insistence on throwing her Pallet friends and family off the scent of their project she could handle. Zahlia's Haunter being out of his ball 24/7 and popping up out of nowhere to scare the bajeezus out of her she could handle. Hell, even Kaylee's obsession with researching Broome she could handle. It was Gav's persistent, protracted silence she could absolutely not tolerate.

Even in the throes of what was clearly depression, Gav remained stubbornly and maddeningly Gav. He didn't throw a fit like Jason had on the front lawn, letting all his anger and disappointment show all at once. He just wasn't that guy, and it had taken actually watching his sister's arm snap in the jaws of a feral Pokémon to make him beat up a tool shed for one night, a night that felt like it had taken place years ago in another life. Gav wasn't Jason, and as a result he carefully controlled how he showed his depression outwardly. He'd never go so far as to wall anyone out of his life completely, or be caught staring morosely off into space. When he was addressed he always responded. When anyone argued with him he listened patiently and responded concisely, intelligently and logically, explaining his views. He managed to eat, sleep, and even spend time with his team outdoors every so often, watching Cubone chase Diglett around the yard. Nothing was outwardly wrong with him.

She had never seen him so wounded so deeply.

This was, more or less, what she'd been begging him to see and admit for weeks. Her approaches had run the gamut from anger to sorrow to gentle patience to cool logic. Nothing worked, and Gav always seemed so genuinely remorseful and understanding about it all. _Of course I understand why you and the others are upset. I know this project stopped being "mine" and Kaylee's years ago. I know how hard this is to accept, but we have to face facts. I'm sorry, Victoria. I truly am._

_Just be real with me, _she wanted so badly to snap back at him some days. _Just say what you really feel, don't apologize to me like it was _my _heart that was broken the night we had to turn our backs on the League._

Victoria stared into Gav's face, not knowing what she'd been about to say and, on some level, not even caring. _He'll just keep on resisting you and pushing your words away until it's _you _he's pushing away next. _The advice, calm and insightful, sounded like something Beth would say. Victoria let out a slow, even breath and tried even harder to let everything else go.

"Alright," she said softly, furrowing her eyebrows and looking to the floor of his bedroom. "Alright. I won't push you anymore. It's clear it's not working." She wanted to work up the courage to look him in the eye, and call forth an encouraging smile or a compassionate expression. She knew she couldn't manage any of that just now—only the eyebrow twitch. "This will be the last time I do this."

Gav looked up at her, resigned but also looking strangely afraid. Victoria didn't know why until he asked, "the last time?"

Her face remained blank and uncomprehending as she stared back at him, trying to unearth his hidden meaning, and then it hit her followed closely by a wave of offended anger. "What?" She asked, a shiver in her core. "No. Of course I don't mean that, how could you even—" she cut herself off, biting back on more words spawned from a place of hurt. Getting up to excuse herself before she could make it worse, Victoria parted with, "you can't get rid of me that easily." Gav had nothing to say, as usual, but she could practically feel his discomfort and remorse in a palpable aura as she walked out into the hall to get some air.

Victoria didn't know where her feet were carrying her at first, but she supposed it wasn't surprising when she found herself at Beth's door. It was open, as it always was, and Victoria didn't bother knocking as she let herself in. Her sister had always been extremely relaxed about personal space and privacy, even through their volatile preteen years.

Beth looked up from her phone and gave Victoria a tentative, worried smile before she stowed the device back in her bra. "Gav?" she intuited as Victoria took a heavy seat on the bed beside her.

"Gav," Victoria confirmed. Beth gave her a sympathetic smile as she shifted over to make more room. Beth didn't pry and Victoria was grateful for it. There was nothing new to say, anyway. It was always the same story with them.

Instead Victoria poked Beth in the bra, where her phone was peeking out. She wanted to talk about something else. "Rei?" she inquired, keeping with their pattern of speaking in only monosyllabic boy names.

"Yeah," Beth said, and the way her eyes flicked down and away told Victoria there was something bothering her sister, too. She nudged her to get her to go on and Beth shrugged. "It's really not—"

"Nope," Victoria said, cutting her off. "Lay it on me. I'm tired of talking to dead-ends."

Beth gave her a complicated, fond and sad smile but sighed. "Just… Rei. Been thinking about how he'd… benefit, maybe, from knowing about this. You know?" Victoria remained silent to let Beth know she should elaborate. "I mean, Zeke attacked Ida. He's had a situation happen to him similar to Gav's and Kaylee's or Amaris'. I just kind of… you know."

Victoria sighed. "I know. It's tempting to think we could just adopt him as our Amaris #2."

"He's even a redhead, too," Beth added, a tinge of hopefulness poorly concealed under a layer of humor. "Our redhead recruits."

"I refuse to believe that his red is natural," Victoria said with a light snort, but her face must have given away the fact that she was about to play Devil's Advocate to her sister's plans.

Beth sighed. "Yeah. I know."

Victoria reached out to snag her hand and hold it, giving it a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I want him, for you. So you can be happy. It's just—we're really not at a place to recruit right now. Our leader is—gone, we're in shambles."

Beth shifted to face her better, tucked her knees under her and took Victoria's other hand in hers. She looked her dead in the eye as she spoke the next part, and not for the first time Victoria could see her sister as a future politician, winning over the masses with her open honesty and her unbroken, sincere brown gaze. "You're our leader now, Victoria. And you're not in shambles. You're my indestructible, fearless sister."

Victoria felt a lump rise in her throat and squeezed Beth's hands back. "I love you for thinking so," she said. "I wish it was true."

Beth scoffed at her and somehow made it sound like an affectionate gesture. Then she settled in beside Victoria instead, resting her head on her shoulder for a bit.

Blake's silhouette passed by the open door like something out of a horror movie, a silent, pale, dark-haired spectre that almost made Victoria leap out of her skin. He froze in place when he saw them standing there, Victoria in particular probably giving him an accidental death glare out of surprise. Blake looked down at the two mugs of tea he had in each hand, the little strings and slowly twirling orange tags telling Victoria they were tangerine flavored. Then Blake looked back up at them, and, seeming to make up his mind in an awkward burst of determination, stepped into the room and set the mugs down on the nightstand for them before abruptly retreating back to the kitchen to, presumably, make more tea.

Victoria cast Beth a glance and quirked her eyebrow, pulling out her phone to have a covert girl talk. Beth, resigned and looking like she'd rather break rocks with her teeth than talk about this, pulled hers out as well.

_Okay, so, what's going on there?_ Victoria sent. Beside her Beth's phone buzzed and her sister tapped back a reply.

_sigh. nothing._

Victoria smiled at her phone. _I love that you typed out "sigh." Seriously though. Everything ok?_

Victoria and Beth had learned throughout the years that the walls in Edith's cottage were treacherously thin. Though chances were Blake was too far away to overhear them, it always paid to be cautious.

_everything is fine. he just probably figures—rightly—that you know about The Thing That Happened in VR and feels unspeakably weird around you now._

Victoria chuckled as that message pinged up on her phone, noting from the corner of her eye that Blake had slipped past the door again with two new mugs. _as he should, _she wrote back. _I offered for you to have a hit out on his head._

Beth bit her lip and laughed at that, then nudged Victoria with her shoulder. She put her phone away, sighed, then said, "Wanna read my latest email from Spikey?"

Victoria smiled back. "Yeah, sure," she said, getting to her feet and following her sister as she padded on bare feet out of the room and down the hall to where the computer was set up in the corner of their den area. Beth had been trading emails with Spikey for about a week now, ever since the State of the League address, testing the waters and feeling her out as a contact. Spikey, though she had to get thousands of messages per week full of inquiries, ideas and commentary, showed a surprising propensity for replying in a timely manner. Beth had rolled her eyes at Victoria when she'd suggested the matronly talk-show personality merely had an algorithm setup which would automatically generate random happy responses with the occasional bubbly icon face. She liked icon faces almost as much as Beth did.

Case in point—the most recent email from Spikey read:

_Of course! I investigate ALL story leads, that's what EUTS is all about! I sadly lack the time & resources to investigate EVERYTHING under the sun though… SIGH! If only D8_

"I don't think she knows what that face is supposed to mean," Victoria commented, and Beth pouted at her.

"Give her a break, she's like fifty."

"Emailing your mom?" Edith asked from the kitchen, and Victoria glanced up to look at her, having again not heard the arrival of one of their group. Edith somehow creeped her out less with her silent comings and goings than Blake and Zahlia did.

Beth made a face at Edith as if to say, _are you serious?_ "Mom? Email? No way, she can barely work her cell phone. Nah, we're talking about Spikey."

Beth might have been making a joke, but Edith looked as if the last thing in the world she wanted to do was smile or laugh. Victoria frowned and looked back at the computer screen, nowhere near blaming Edith for feeling this way. Talking to Spikey meant they were working on their project, and working on the project meant the danger wasn't over yet. Edith averted her large dark eyes and wrung her hands, turning away to retreat into the back hallway rather than stay out here and impose her cloud of worry on them.

Beth had picked up on the reason why she was nervous, and she sighed heavily as she turned back to the email. The mouse cursor hovered over the "x" button in the browser window but Victoria shook her head.

"Just answer her. I know E doesn't like it, but there's nothing we can do about that." Beth pinched her brow but nodded, and after a pause began to type up a reply to Spikey that was a lot giddier than the atmosphere here.

While Beth wrote, Victoria pulled her phone towards her from where she'd set it down earlier on the computer table. She scrolled through her recent messages and came across one from Amaris, a group message sent out to them two days ago.

_No luck with Wilbur. He doesn't answer many people and apparently I'm not on his list._

Victoria lowered her head down to rest it on her arms, violently and bitterly wishing for the five hundredth time that she had Gav here to bounce ideas off of. He and Kaylee had the most experience working with the police and though Kaylee was speaking more logically these days, Victoria still could not trust her to be 100% objective. She had insight but was still easily excitable and liable to exaggerate or downplay facts to get the result she wanted.

"Wilbur?" Beth asked, showing her remarkable propensity towards mind-reading.

"Yeah," Victoria said. "I dunno. Amaris isn't getting anywhere and I haven't even begun to be able to address that. Too much other crap going on."

"Maybe I should try," Beth said, peering over her shoulder at Victoria and winking. "I'm a hell of a lot more beguiling than Amaris."

Victoria smiled at her sister, unable to deny that. "When are those two leaving, anyway?" she asked, her mind a sieve that was losing relevant bits of information at an alarming rate.

"Tomorrow," Beth supplied, clicking "send" on her email to Spikey.

"Yeah, okay. Take over for him while he's gone, then."

Beth navigated to a new search page, typing in the site for the Celadon City Police Station, and Victoria gave the back of her sister's head a warm, fond smile as Beth scrolled through pages of contact information, writing down promising email addresses for colleagues of Wilbur who might be able to get in touch with him. It was a trickle-down effect without Gav there to guide them, and Beth and the others had all taken on a sudden shift of weight, more work added to their plates and more time robbed from them. It truly made Victoria understand and appreciate, even more than she had before, just how much of their burden Gav had hauled before his loss of faith.

_Don't torture him anymore, _Victoria scolded herself as the urge to go to his room reared up again. _You said it was the last time you'd ask, and it will be the last time you ask._

* * *

"We will," Gina said for the millionth time, releasing Edith from a hug. "They're never going off, not for a second. I'll actually remember to charge mine at night. Promise-promise."

Edith gave Gina a grateful, but distinctly watery smile and turned to Amaris, who seemed ready to cringe back from a hug. Edith knew better, though, and merely clasped her hands in front of her. "I'm so glad you're doing this. Telling your families and friends that you're safe. It's a good step in the right direction."

Gina looked uncomfortable at that, and while Amaris seemed to be masking his expression, Victoria knew he chafed against the implication, too. They all did. Edith wanted so desperately for them to be done with everything, the only person under their roof who agreed with Gav. Jason, who was not here to see his best friend off to Pallet, probably would have been brooding over this if he was present. _Off training himself half to death again, _Victoria groused.

Gina certainly noticed the absence of her friend, and her countenance bore the weight. Victoria wasn't the only one irate at the sight of Gina glancing out the window as if hoping to see him returning from the line of trees, cloaked in sweat, his team tromping behind him. "Well," she said, swinging her arms a little and glancing around, never directly at anyone's face. "Guess we better… get a move on."

"Yeah, do that," Kaylee grumbled, going in for another parting hug. "I'll slug Jason for you when I see him next."

Gina gave her a sad, half-cringing smile and Edith bit her lip, looking disappointed and disapproving of Jason's absence, too. "Be careful," she said again, her constant mantra.

Gina gave Edith a half-hearted salute, and then she and Amaris were off, heading over to their designated teleportation landing zone before Amaris sent out Alakazam. In a moment they were gone.

Literally five seconds later Edith's phone buzzed and she nearly dropped it scooping it out of the front pocket of her apron. Her eyes flicked over the message and her face fell.

Kaylee didn't bother asking, snagging the phone to look at it over Edith's arm. "Motherf—" she exclaimed, letting Edith take it back while she gestured emphatically in the air with her free hand. "Seriously, Jason? What the flying fuck?"

"What?" Beth asked, though Edith was now reading the text aloud.

"_Training journey to mt. moon. be back in a few days. need moon stone for Nidorino. Love—_" Edith paused, strangely shy about reading aloud Jason's affectionate salutation, but it didn't matter. The core of the message had been received.

"Well," Beth said, rubbing her face with both hands and muffling her voice in the process. "What can we do. It's not like we're under house arrest here. He can train if he wants."

"Serious?" Kaylee asked again, shooting a withering look at Beth. "You can't keep making excuses for him and for everyone. He's being—" she glanced over at Edith, not wanting to smack-talk Jason in front of his fiancé, but Blake did it for her.

"He's being a selfish jerk and a dumbass," he reported, arms crossed. "Just be grateful he isn't hoofing it back through Victory Road to the League. You know that's where he's ramping up to go."

"We don't know that," Victoria cut in, really not wanting to defend the loose cannon that was the youngest Fremont brother, but not wanting this to degenerate either. "Blake's right, though. Pewter's not that far. Edith, try to text him back, tell him he _needs _to check in with you every three hours at a minimum. Tell him I don't give a crap what lame-ass excuse he comes up with. If he goes off the grid for longer than a three-hour window we're sending a search party after him."

Edith looked unabashedly miserable at having to be the middle-woman here, but did as Victoria asked, carefully typing up a text and hitting the backspace key so often Victoria wondered if Jason would have returned by the time she was done perfecting it. Perhaps Edith wasn't the best girl for this job, but Jason had made it clear—Edith was his point of contact while he was gone, and Victoria assumed she or any of the others would merely get radio static if they tried to reach out to him themselves.

Zahlia and Beth headed over to Victoria as she made her way in a daze to the kitchen. It was stunning to her no matter how many times it happened; she had the support they had normally given to Gav, the attentive obedience and eagerness of all the others to help her wherever they could. She made a suggestion and it happened. She forbade an action and, for the most part, it was final. Victoria had expected the usual bullshit and shuffle, perhaps Kaylee trying to take over Gav's position and feeling resentful that Victoria was taking point, or Amaris refusing to defer to her the way he had learned to do to the eldest Harrison. Yet no one argued, no one stood in her way, and even when they disagreed with her it was for the greater good.

_We're not in shambles, _Victoria thought to herself, her eyes lighting on Beth. _We're lost but we're a unit, and we can still function._

"You're going to reach out to Wilbur's contacts today, like we discussed?" she asked Beth, and Beth nodded at once. To Zahlia, Victoria asked, "anything new on Broome's side projects?" She had Zahlia researching this alongside Kaylee, partly for extra eyes and ears to the ground, and partly so she could be sure there was a completely objective party reporting to her on the current Champ.

"It's all over the net, but it's a lot of speculation. He's been silent since the address. I'm monitoring news sites, but also League forums. Useful to keep an eye out for any rumors, even if they're unfounded."

Victoria smiled at her, deeply grateful and just as deeply exhausted. Then she pressed her palms into her eyes and sighed loud, the way she did to release stress and make herself feel better. "I could really go for some pancakes right now."

Zahlia nodded in vehement agreement and, to Victoria's slight surprise, moved off into the kitchen at once to start on the batter. Beth's face split into a broad grin and she began banging pots and pans around at once, locating syrup and piling plates up on the counter. Evidently Zahlia was being roped into Beth's and Victoria's sisterly telepathy, as they were all now on the same wavelength for food cravings, too. In spite of everything, Victoria couldn't help but chuckle softly at that as the kitchen noise drew out some of the others, their breakfast food senses tingling.

Victoria took up a post beside Zahlia, bringing out measuring cups and wooden spoons, and while the others orbited around the kitchen she glanced up at the eldest Nakawa, studying her profile. She looked tired, as they all did these days, but something about her face today belied an even deeper weariness than before.

Victoria paused, putting the utensils down on the counter, and nudged Zahlia gently with her elbow. They all reacted differently to physical contact. Beth usually nudged back and leaned over to smile or make a face at Victoria. Zahlia jumped a little and recoiled, just a little, though her face told that she wasn't upset or offended, just surprised. "You alright?" Victoria asked, lifting her eyebrows and trying to don an expression that was mildly curious and not shrewdly investigative.

Zahlia gave Victoria a brief, bland half-smile and a shrug. "Full disclosure," she said, something she often tacked to the beginning of something she didn't want to share, but had to, "I had another dream about… my brother, last night."

Victoria paused, not staring at Zahlia, since she didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but not acting like everything was fine, either. Beth hadn't heard—she was still finding the exact perfect pan for making the pancakes and that seemed to entail bringing out every single last piece of Edith's kitchenware and inspecting them all. To the backdrop of clanging and clattering, Victoria murmured, "What about?"

It was Zahlia's turn to pause, now. Victoria seamlessly took up the rest of the measuring for the ingredients for the batter while Zahlia backed off on the pretense of washing her hands for a second time. When she spoke up, it was quiet enough to not draw more attention to them. "He was in the woods outside the cabin. Just, watching."

Victoria felt an unstoppable chill curl down her spine. "So this marks the second dream you've had where he's near here."

"Right," Zahlia confirmed. "Though it… doesn't feel like Dream Eater. He has yet to speak to me, or acknowledge my presence at all, the way… the way Orion did."

Victoria swallowed, awkward, and spilled a little extra flour over the top of the measuring cup. The soft powder landed like fresh snow on the counter and she absently smeared it up with her thumb, only succeeding in spreading it out more. "That's a good sign," she said, trying to inject more confidence into her tone than she felt. "He doesn't seem… at all stable, and I think if he really knew where we were, _we'd _know, too."

Zahlia nodded, though she looked far from convinced. "It's probably nerves," she said, clearly wanting to contribute to the positive line of thinking. Victoria knew on some level she did not believe that.

Thankfully Beth came to the rescue, cradling in her arms what she deemed to be "the perfect frying pan" like it was a child she had just delivered into the world. Victoria snorted at her and stepped aside so Beth could place it with the utmost care and precision directly onto the largest burner. Zahila had gone back to actually creating the batter, and Victoria lifted her eyebrows at her as she realized how far along she'd already gotten. Her slender arms had far more muscle than Victoria gave her credit for, and when Zahlia saw her looking she gave her a small smile. "Did most of the cooking growing up. Pancakes are an old favorite."

"Gimme," Kaylee said, leaning over Zahlia's shoulder and dipping her pinky into the batter. Zahlia gave her a weird look.

"It's… it's just pancake batter. I mean, it isn't sweet, or anything." In spite of her protests, though, Kaylee was humming happily.

"Says you. This stuff is great."

Blake had appeared at Zahlia's other side, now curious. He also dipped a finger into the bowl and Victoria let out a testy sigh over the question, "Can you guys not?" Blake's verdict was decidedly less pleased, and he flicked his hand in reaction to what was evidently deep disgust, landing some of his half-eaten batter directly onto Kaylee's cheek. Victoria could tell what was going to happen before it began.

Beth was hit with the next glob of batter, shrieking and diving aside as Blake had ducked to avoid the stuff aimed for his face. He looked momentarily remorseful that he'd gotten Beth roped into this, and while he was distracted looking back at her Zahlia slapped some across his jaw. "I don't think this is good for eating anymore," she explained as her brother gave her a deeply scandalized, open-mouthed look.

"Prepare for war," Blake said, but before he could make good on his threat, Kaylee got true vengeance by flinging batter into his face. Victoria ducked down behind a cabinet door like she was in the middle of a strafing run.

"Do you guys—oh," Edith said, and Victoria popped her head up to look at Edith's face to gauge her level of horror to amusement, but the timing was bad. She got a sloppy glop of batter straight to the back of her long hair.

"_I will end you,_" Victoria snarled, turning back as Beth and Blake seamlessly pointed to Kaylee, who was looking at Victoria with wide eyes. "_My hair takes for-freaking-ever to clean."_

Kaylee shrieked and dived out of the kitchen, getting hit with batter as Blake retaliated, and Victoria managed to catch that Edith had both hands clasped over her mouth, not in horror at the havoc they were wreaking on her kitchen, but with barely-contained laughter. Relieved, Victoria gave her an apologetic smile and got a slap of batter to the face for her moment of weakness.

"The floors will run with your blood!" Victoria promised, picking up a globbing handful and missing target miserably. Blake and his bizarrely nimble dodging skills had now roped Edith into the legendary battle, and the kitchen soon dissolved into a chaotic war zone of shrieking laughter.

* * *

_Author's Note: My chapter buffer is a lot healthier now! I will soon have a three chapter buffer back. -strut strut-_


	3. Never Back :Jason:

Pokémon Lapis

Chapter 3: Never Back

(Jason Fremont)

Everything was raw, every muscle screamed and though he'd guzzled gallons of water there were still the delicate lines of a tension headache starting around his temples. He was in a constant state of dehydration, fluid entering his body and leaving in sweat, an endless rain cycle on his own personal planet.

Edith's latest message burned in his pocket. _The others are upset, and I don't blame them. Come home quick. We need you now, more than ever._

He knew it was true, on some level. They didn't need him, but they needed him to stop being a liability.

Except even that wasn't true. As Jason stared up at the stark, tapered shape of Mt. Moon, a bitter taste in his throat, he knew there were at least two people who did need him. Edith and Gina.

Jason took to the path, alone during this time of year. It seemed they were perpetually traveling to places during off-seasons, but it served him well. It would be just his luck to be pegged as Fremont's son while off on a training venture in Pewter.

His body was screaming at him so loud it was distracting, and Jason found himself dimly disappointed. He thought he'd trained himself past this point. Gone was the baby fat and the softness of childhood, and each muscle knew its job. He breathed through the lactic acid building up in his thighs and the steady throbbing in his skull. _Forward, _he told himself, a mantra. _Never, never back. _

Jason's footfalls took him in a steady, numbing path up through the more traveled routes in Mt. Moon. There were side paths, more challenging routes for those who were there, not simply to get through to Cerulean, but to train, explore and rough it. Jason took these paths, ignoring the brightly colored neon signs that told him to turn back if he wanted to stay on the path to Route 4.

_Should have these in Victory Road, _he thought vehemently, shooting the smoothly kept paths and well-lit walkways a dirty look. In spite of the fact that Mt. Moon was one place Jason was fairly sure Silph and the Nakawa syndicate had not gotten their claws into, it was tainted to him, ruined. This had been Orion's favorite point in Kanto.

Though he travelled on in relative peace and made grudging progress for his first few days, after his fifth Jason was forced to stop and take a real rest an hour into a punishing, 45-degree angle hike up one of the more challenging Mt. Moon side paths. He laid down on his side, the world spinning in a wholly disagreeable way, and let out Golduck to keep him company and cool him down.

Golduck was used to emerging from his Pokeball to see his trainer in this state by now. The sleek Water-type hissed out a stream of cool, misty water vapor and Jason closed his eyes, reveling in how amazing that felt. His hands were shaking as he bit the package of a protein bar open and took a huge bite, chewing mechanically and tasting nothing.

His Pokémon was judging him. Jason ate his entire bar and remained on his side, breathing hard, and then marginally less hard, until the buzzing in his head stopped. When he was able to prop himself up on his elbow once more, Golduck frowned at him.

"What?" Jason asked, though his tone was considerably more gentle than it was with most of his human companions these days. He spent virtually all of his time with his fighting roster of six. "We're on a mission, this is for Nidorino."

Golduck rolled his eyes and leaned back on his haunches, averting his red eyes and glancing off instead to the path Jason had just come from. He felt a mix of pride and disorientation as he looked down the way he came—he'd really climbed high on this one for just an hour of travel time.

Jason felt a tugging at his belt and glanced over, spotting that Golduck was using his newer, stronger psychic abilities to wiggle free some of the Pokeballs there. Jason frowned over at him but unclasped the two that he was fishing for, and in a moment Golduck had deployed Alakazam and Rhydon.

Rhydon was his combo-breaker, or so Jason fondly called him in his head. Most of the Pokémon that had evolved lately had been huge—Golem, Grumpy, Venusaur, Charizard—all of them seemed to have had an extra boost, bulking up and breaking the size bracket of their kinds' normal ranges. Rhydon was smaller than average, compact, lithe and, Jason thought, smiling at his recent evolution, quick.

The smile fell off his face slightly as he watched Rhydon wander up the path a little, exploring, while Golduck and Alakazam conferred silently in their Psychic-type way. He knew he had Broome, Casey and Nick to thank for the fact that Rhyhorn had evolved the way he did. The Champs had an eye for what a Pokémon's real strengths were, where their skills fell, and throughout the long weeks of training before the League challenge Rhyhorn had learned to duck, dive, roll, take a rough landing and boost his speed in multiple ways. Jason wondered if he'd have evolved into a standard, run-of-the-mill Rhydon without that sort of tutoring. A biped now versus a quadruped, Rhydon's residual bulk and slowness had vanished once he got used to his new body. He was faster than Venusaur, faster than Gav's Golem, and almost as quick as Jason's more speedy Pokémon like Golduck. It made him formidable and unpredictable, and Jason was beyond proud to have him on his team.

Alakazam looked over at Jason, and Jason could see that he was disapproving. Was Golduck tattling on him for not caring for his body? Probably. Jason gave his Psychic-type a fond, lopsided smile, and Alakazam just narrowed his eyes back at Jason. Almost more than any of the rest of them, Alakazam had improved in, quite literally, leaps and bounds. Jason had heard that an Abra, Kadabra or Alakazam, properly trained, could be "programmed" to return its trainer to the last Center it remembered visiting from anywhere across the entire map. It seemed like a gross exaggeration—how could a Pokémon make a leap from Cinnabar Island to a Pokémon Center it remembered being at in Lavender Town? It was just too far of a distance. Yet, as Jason watched his "alpha" team member turn back to Golduck and continue the silent talk, he was starting to believe it. His Alakazam was stronger than ever, hardly fatigued after long hops anymore, and Jason had used him to travel from Edith's front lawn to the northernmost part of Pewter's path to Mt. Moon in one long hop. Alakazam hadn't even looked particularly tired after that. Jason supposed it was child's play after everything he'd been put through.

Golduck and Alakazam seemed to have come to an agreement on whatever they were discussing, and Alakazam hopped in a short jump over to stand in front of Rhydon. Rhydon glanced his way, listening, and Golduck watched Jason as if worried he'd make a break for it. This finally gained his full attention and Jason stood up, flummoxed. "Okay. What are you doing?"

Alakazam had finished with Rhydon and portaled back to Jason, grabbing him. Jason didn't have time to even exclaim before he was portaled back and set down on top of Rhydon's blunt back spikes. Alakazam showed him how to hold on to his shoulder spines and position his feet on Rhydon's lower back spikes as if Jason was a child who didn't know how to ride without falling off.

Jason bristled at this. "What, are you serious right now? Cut it out, I'm fine."

Golduck blasted him with water and Jason flailed and shook his head out while Rhydon bellowed in extreme displeasure at Golduck, who had got him wet too. His two newest-evolved team members had some kind of rivalry going on between them now, though for what reason Jason could not begin to discern. Alakazam kept his hand on Jason's back, patient but stern, exactly like a mom. "Stop messing around," Jason snapped, and Alakazam narrowed his eyes at him once more.

_I must not be an alpha, _Jason mused to himself as all three of his Pokémon, having conferred against him and mutinied, stonewalled his requests to walk on his own. _If I was I wouldn't have this problem. _

Jason gave in, letting Rhydon taxi him forward as his Rock-type mountain-goated up the steep slopes. Golduck and Alakazam traveled in their own equally efficient ways, Golduck leaping in short jumps and bounds from rock to rock and Alakazam watching them travel for a distance until they were nearly out of sight, then teleporting himself ahead and waiting for them to catch up. Rhydon snorted a sound at Alakazam that Jason figured was probably smack-talk about how Alakazam didn't actually have to work out any muscles to climb and how that was unfair or something. What he would give for a way to see if he was right about what they were really saying to each other.

They encountered Rock-type after Rock-type, the Zubats absent as it wasn't night yet, and Golduck hosed down one right after the other with Water Gun and Bubble. Though Jason was doing an okay job focusing on his goals at hand and using his forward momentum for one thing at a time, his mind was always branching out these days, humming with a thousand different trains of thought, and at that moment the train was leading him to the TM station. He desperately wanted to teach his team members newer, more powerful moves. He had some TMs in mind for some of them, but would have to research which ones to buy—with his non-existent cash—for the rest of his group. If there was one thing he had learned from his League challenge, other than to never trust another human being again, it was that a Pokémon with a carefully-picked move list was doubly as effective and twice as unbeatable as one with standard attacks only.

The alarm he'd set on his Dex hummed in his pocket and Jason held on to Rhydon with one arm while he fished his device out with his other hand. _Three hours on the dot. Time to check in._

_Still stone hunting, _he wrote with one hand, lurching a little as Rhydon made a rough landing. _Hard to say when I'll be back since that depends on when i find one. love you._

Edith didn't write back right away, which meant one of two things; she had seen his message and didn't know how to reply and was taking forever composing her answer, or she had seen his message and was purposely not answering. Given the rock-bottom levels of popularity he had with his group right now, Jason was starting to think the second option, though out-of-character for Edith, might actually be the truth this time.

Shelving his pang of disappointment and guilt over that, Jason kept his eyes facing forward, scanning for unstable ground, encroaching wilds, or, most importantly, any stone outcroppings that looked out of place.

It was his Pokémon who stopped him once again, deciding amongst themselves that it was time to move off to the side of the steep incline and carve out a camping ground in the terrain. Jason was teleported off Rhydon as if he couldn't move himself, protested to Alakazam, but was soon drowned out by Rhydon bashing his enormous fists over and over into a patch of rock to level it down and make it flat. Alakazam, the cheeky bastard, lifted a gold hand to his ear as Jason's voice was swallowed by the din.

"Jackass!" Jason shouted. "You can just read my mind, you jerk."

Golduck blasted a cave full of nearby Zubats, scaring them away from their perch and sending them screeching off into the encroaching evening. Jason had been fully ready to travel for as long as his Pokémon could hold out, but they were taking it upon themselves to sigh and look worn down and tired every time he glanced their way. It was an utter crock of BS—they could keep walking for weeks, he knew—but this was their way of looking out for him, and he tried to remind himself of that as they settled down around him for the night.

Sleep never came for Jason easily, and out here in Orion's favorite map point, in an unfamiliar setting, kept from his goal, it wasn't going to happen, period. The last many nights had been this way and he knew to expect nothing different tonight. He dazed and dozed, eyes still half-lidded and not exactly sleeping, but it was "rest" at least.

Alakazam, Golduck and Rhydon had opted to stay out of their Pokéballs for the night and Jason let them, not feeling like arguing his point and not able to bring himself to force them to do something they really didn't want to. They put up with him, did what he asked and worked themselves just as hard as he did, but the difference there was that hard, almost punishing training could be good for Pokémon. It was different for people, as Edith had told him time and time again, and doubly different when pushing himself to the brink was for all the wrong reasons.

It had been one of the very few fights they had ever had. "All the wrong reasons" was a laughable concept to Jason, and though he knew she hadn't meant to make it sound like his motives were baseless, it hadn't stopped him from painstakingly going through every single reason why he needed to make sure he and his team were always pushing forward and always reaching for a higher bar.

In the end he'd made her cry and felt like a complete asshole for it. The memory of her trying to mask the fact that he'd hurt her, just so she wouldn't hurt him in return through the realization, propelled Jason up off of his back and onto his feet. Rhydon remained sleeping, generally oblivious, and Golduck kicked a little at his movement but rolled over and went back to sleep.

Alakazam, however, snapped his eyes open and locked his gaze at once onto Jason's face. He teleported over to stand in front of him in the next second and Jason had to grit his teeth around an outburst.

"I'm not running away. Why would I just leave you guys here?" He lowered his voice so as not to wake the others. "I just need—I need some space."

Alakazam tilted his head to the side, giving Jason a sad, shrewd look, and Jason rolled his eyes. He talked more to his Pokémon than to his friends these days and he could read the expressions of certain teammates with no trouble now. "I'm fine. You know me, I just don't sleep well anymore."

Alakazam huffed out a small sigh, then hopped about ten feet away, gesturing to Jason as if to have him follow. _I have a guard detail now, _Jason groused inwardly, but carefully walked down the rocks a little ways to meet his Psychic-type on the ledge he had selected.

Alakazam and Jason walked along in silence, his Psychic-type actually opting to stroll beside him rather than teleport along in hops. He looked a little awkward walking—Jason had never realized how much he had grown used to his Pokémon remaining stationary between jumps. It looked like Alakazam's body wasn't quite built for that sort of motion anymore, his arms dangling low and his gait shuffling.

Once again Jason was struck by how different Mt. Moon looked by night, and how different the less-beaten paths were from the well-traveled ones. In the main section of the cave there were roughly-hewn stone steps carved out of some of the rock face, even some guard railings erected and generally well-kept for the parts that had an incline. Also peppered along the walks were those signs, bright and crisp, block letters leading the way ahead. The cave's natural light was soft and more than enough to see by in those areas. Where Jason currently was it was a lot closer to pitch black.

There was still light, the periodic, soft glow of the moon interspersed and filtered down through the rocks, but it was stifled and hard to come by here. The diffuse glow of the rocks hit in patches, and in weird places—up on a ledge, one side painted soft white and the other dark—dotting along the ceiling like glow-in-the-dark stars—interspersed along the rough floors, the jutting stones looking like the white-washed tips of tiny waves.

They walked along in silence for what seemed like ages. Jason lost count of the minutes as they dragged by, taking in various parts of the landscape, noting them for their journey back although he didn't have to—Alakazam could always teleport them directly back to Rhydon and Golduck. They veered left at an outcropping of jagged rocks shaped perfectly like a lightning bolt, stayed true past a series of tunnels clearly carved out by young Onix and made a sharper right to go around a grouping of skyward-jutting pillars, like three fingers raised in the air.

Jason could suddenly see the appeal of staying holed up somewhere like this, alone on a mountain or within a cavernous series of tunnels like this. It was one of the favorite theories of what had happened to Red after he went off the grid for good—"crazy Pokémon trainer hermit who lives in a far-away mountain" didn't exactly roll off the tongue, but Jason could understand now why the former Champion had found peace doing so, if that was indeed where he'd gone after his days in the limelight were over.

Jason spotted the newer light source from a long ways off, though it took him a long time to figure out what it was, and even where it was coming from. It was getting brighter, gradually, and in the series of lower-hanging tunnels he and Alakazam had found there was no way to properly peer ahead and get a good enough vantage point. Jason was momentarily tempted to send his Pokémon forward to investigate, but decided against it in the end. He wanted to discover what this was together.

When they finally exited the cramped, low-slung caves into a wider, more spacious cavern, Jason's mouth dropped open.

It was as if he'd suddenly stepped directly out of Mt. Moon altogether and found himself in outer space. Jason froze, not sure what he was seeing, his eyes struggling to adjust to thousands upon thousands of miniscule, gently-dusted points of soft, glowing silver light. They were everywhere—peppering the cavern walls, spattered across the wide ceilings—even underfoot. The entire area shimmered like it was covered in glitter.

Alakazam looked up at the ceiling beside him, then teleported high to investigate the outcroppings of mostly undeveloped stones. He used his telekinesis to hover there, jabbing gently at the stuff with one of his spoons, while Jason kneeled down to brush some soot and dust off of one on the floor.

These had to be new Moon Stones, scarcely growing in, more Moon Dust than anything else. Jason measured the largest stone he could see against his hand—it was scarcely larger than the pad of his thumb. Alakazam teleported back down and shrugged, apparently not seeing anything new himself.

Jason stood upright, staring up at the wide expanse of evolutionary power above him, unhoned and incomplete, but beautiful nevertheless. His feet took him farther over the grounds, and though it was impossible not to step on the young stones, none of them so much as budged underfoot. They were new, but powerful.

For a time Jason was stunned—how could this many stones exist when Mt. Moon was constantly being scoured for the rare gems? Though, the closer he looked the more he could see what had been happening here. Gouges in the rockface showed where mature stones had been carved back, sometimes messily—a few times, with absolute carelessness. One otherwise healthy stone had been shattered by what looked like a stray pickaxe strike, and Jason scowled.

Jason's reception was just about shot, but as he climbed the cliff-face to a higher vantage point, feeling like he was looking down on an endless sea of points of light, he thought he could finagle a few bars. And he thought he knew who was most likely to be up at this odd hour of the night.

It's J, he wrote, unnecessarily. Sometimes it just felt better to announce himself, even though he didn't need to. Can you look something up for me on E's computer, about Moon Stones? he hit "send" on the message to Amaris and waited, content to not move from this spot as long as Alakazam would let him stay.

Amaris took his sweet time writing back, though this didn't surprise Jason in the slightest. When he did respond it was a good two hours later, though Jason was sure he'd received his text the moment it was sent. What, was the only reply—no question mark, and Jason smiled down at it. Once he'd given zero thought to punctuation and tone and any manner of subtlety in his day-to-day life, but watching Orion's gradual signs of slipping away increase day by day had taught him a lot about unspoken cues.

He got straight to the point, figuring Amaris would appreciate that. I was wondering if you could send me the size chart for fully matured Moon Stones. Found a crop but they look young. He hit send and prepared himself for another few hours of waiting while Amaris played this BS game with him, but the reply came back at once.

2.5 min, can get up to 6 inches but those are rare. Anything smaller is no good.

Thanks, Jason wrote back, wondering if Amaris had just quoted that from memory. It was unlikely that he'd been able to look up the information that quickly. Pocketing his Dex and heaving a soft sigh, Jason met Alakazam's eyes as his Pokémon looked over to him and tilted his head.

"Try to find me one at least this big," he said, holding up his fingers to show him. "Don't pick anything smaller." Alakazam nodded and began to teleport-hop around the cavern, covering much more ground than Jason was as he stooped down and began examining the floors.

They spent a good hour like this, and Jason wondered if he was evolving into some manner of creature that no longer needed sleep. He felt fuzzy and a little indistinct, and he had his typical sleep deprivation headache, but beyond that he felt fine, soft around the edges and grainy eyed, but nowhere near drowsy. Jason scanned over stone after stone, finding one that neared the inch-long mark, but nothing else that even came close.

Jason was just about to call it a night when Alakazam teleported in front of him, took his wrist, and brought him to a new spot—a spot suspended a good thirty feet above the ground. Alakazam crossed his legs in midair, resting on a cushion of telekinetic energy, and balanced Jason effortlessly on one knee like he was a Psychic-type version of Santa Claus. Feeling distinctly human and weak, Jason glanced up at the ceiling and quickly spotted what his Pokémon had found.

"Excellent," he breathed, a grin coming to his weary face. "Good job, buddy."

There were six stones, mature and cropped together, growing out of the roof like stalactites. Jason measured the two largest ones against his hand, smiling as he estimated them to be just over three inches long.

For a moment he wanted to take them all—who knew when he'd have an opportunity like this again? It wasn't unreasonable to think that he'd eventually capture more Pokémon that required Moon Stones to evolve. Besides, if he removed them himself, it would save them from being hacked into pieces by the careless people who had picked this place dry and shattered the remnants of the other mature stones he had spotted near the entrance of the caverns.

Alakazam had to have been able to read his thoughts, but his Pokémon was utterly silent, unreadable on this issue. Jason paused, rubbing the residual dust off the softly-glowing stones, and gave it more thought than he maybe should have.

In the end he removed two, the exact number he had come there for. It wasn't in him to pick to pieces and leave barren things that were meant for those who would come after him, and besides—he knew Orion, the old Orion, would approve of this choice. The young stones would grow, and the ones he took would be replaced—it would just take time.

"Alright, buddy," Jason said, pressing his palm into his bleary eyes. "Let's head back."

* * *

_Author's Note: So, so sorry for the long lag on this chapter, guys. I have a buffer of half-written chapters, and am doing my best to get organized and plow forward._


End file.
